Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)

"From a distance, it is hard to tell whether the three figures walking the salt playa are human, bird or some other animal. Through binoculars, I see they are pelicans, juveniles, gaunt and emaciated without water or food. In feathered robes, they walk with the focus of fasting monks toward enlightenment or death."

"President Biden plans next week to designate nearly a half-million acres of the Spirit Mountain area in southern Nevada as a national monument, according to two people familiar with the matter,  protecting some of the most biologically diverse and culturally significant lands in the Mojave Desert."

"U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado on Monday wrote a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to formally suspend federal authorization of a Utah rail project that will send up to five, two-mile-long oil trains a day along the Colorado River, under the Continental Divide at Winter Park, and through downtown Denver."

"What could become the nation’s largest lithium mine broke ground in Nevada this [last] week, positioning the political swing state as a likely leader in pumping out battery minerals critical for making electric vehicles and meeting President Joe Biden’s climate goals."

"Denver’s wildly successful incentive program isn’t just helping residents buy greener rides — it’s building an army of bike lane advocates."

"A federal judge in Nevada on Monday upheld the federal government’s approval of the largest proposed lithium mine in the nation, dismissing arguments that the Thacker Pass project would degrade nearby aquifers, air quality, and habitat for the imperiled greater sage grouse."